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with the support of
SmartSustainability
2010The first international symposium
on best practices in sustainable innovation
and clean technologies
MIT Mobile Experience Lab Publishing
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Smart Sustainability 2010Best Practices in Sustainable Innovation
and Clean Technologies
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Copyright 2010 by Mobile Experience Lab
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
First printing 2011.
ISBN-13: 9780982114438
ISBN-10: 0982114435
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
MIT Mobile Experience Lab Publishing
http://mobile.mit.edu/research/1st-annual-smart-sustainability-symposium
/1st-annual-smart-sustainability-symposium
www.mobile.mit.edu
Book designed by Pelin Arslan
Edited by Michelle Dalton
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IntroductionSmart Sustainability Symposium. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Italian Commission Trade. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9
Chapter 1. Global TrendsReinventing the Automobile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-20
Smart and Connected Communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-24ICT-Based Urban Planning Initiatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-27
H2flOw Design for Increased Awareness of Smart Water Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28-34
Chapter 2. The Sustainable Connected HomeEnergy Mobility Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36-39
Lighting: How the Electrochromic Faade Influences the Internal Lighting of the
Sustainable Connected Home. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40-47
Designing a Robust Energy Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48-51
Chapter 3. Building and FabricationThe Three Autonomous Architectures of the Sustainable Connected Home . . . . . . . . 53-69
MAI-IVALSA Modular House Meets MIT-Mobile Experience Lab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70-75
Chapter 4. Energy SustainabilityFBKREET Energy Vision and the Positive Energy Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77-83
Toward Zero Energy Buildings: Optimized for Energy Use and Cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84-89
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
// Index
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Smart Sustainability Symposium
The international symposium, Smart Sustainability 2010 was promoted
by the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea, the Italian Trade
Commission in New York, and the MIT Mobile Experience Laboratory. Theevent was organized at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge,
MA, inspired by the notion of sustainability as developed by the United
Nations World Summit in New York City in 2005. Among the declarations
that the summit proclaimed was a recognition of the serious challenge
posed by climate change and a commitment to take action through the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change. The definition of sustainability
has expanded embracing three requirements: that natural capital remainsintact, defined as Environmental Sustainability, that development is financially
feasible, defined as Economic Sustainability, and that the societal cohesion
is maintained, defined as Social Sustainability. The three-pillar model places
equal importance on environmental, social and economic considerations. By
bringing together experts and scientists from different fields, the symposium
provided a platform to discuss future opportunities for the creative use of
information and communication technologies, as well as sustainable energy
systems and sustainable architecture, with the aim of identifying new ways
to improve the quality of interactions among people, architectural space and
local environment.
// Introduction
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Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea
Italian Trade Commission
The Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea, and in particular
the Department for Sustainable Development, Climate Change and Energy,
together with the Italian Trade Commission, is pleased to be part of this
important publication, which paves the way for exploring best practices in
Sustainable Innovation and Clean Technologies.
The Department for Sustainable Development, Climate Change and Energy
at the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea promotes the
protection of the environment thru the implementation of projects aimed at
developing new technologies with high environmental efficiency, fostering
collaborative initiatives around the world. The Italian Trade Commission
is the official trade development and promotional agency for the Italian
Government. Its mission is to support the internationalization of Italian firms
and their consolidation in foreign markets. Together, the two aim to promote
the use of Italian technologies and the involvement of Italian companies by
encouraging scientific and commercial collaboration, and the exchange of
best practices and know-how.
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9
Our joint collaboration with MIT Mobile Experience Lab began in 2010 with
the creation of Green Link, a networking platform aimed at exploring and
promoting the use of green technologies and sustainable best practices via
collaborative synergies between US and Italian companies, universities, andresearch centers to further develop advanced technologies for innovative
energy systems.
The positive and necessary role of public-private partnerships for economic
growth and environmental protection is becoming ever more evident and
accepted; this is particularly relevant when addressing urban sprawl and
the integration of environmental strategies thru technology innovation and
interaction between space and people.
The urban environment as a critical component of the overall global
environment, draws attention to climate change phenomena, and as we
attempt to move forward we must focus on mitigation and adaptation
solutions not in the limited sense of a reaction to a problem beyond our
control, but rather as an evolutionary process that marries science and art.
Science in the sense of technological advances as demonstrated by recent
breakthroughs in energy innovation and Art in the sense of economic
prosperity, environmental policy making, fiscal market mechanisms,
social progress and interactions between individuals, businesses and the
environment.
It is with this expectation that we praise the work of MIT Mobile Experience
Lab that has so diligently and vividly captured in this one volume the
contributions of so many of experts.
Corrado Clini
Director General
Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea
Aniello Musella
Executive Director
for the USA Italian Trade Commission
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1// Global Trends
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Reinventing the Automobile
by Ryan Chin, MIT Media Lab Smart Cities
The two biggest consumers of energy in urban areas are transportation and
buildings. In 2007, the United Nations estimated that 60% of the population
would be living in urban areas during the 21st century and would control more
than 80% of the wealth. They would presumably also own, drive, or operate
gasoline-consuming vehicles. Currently, as much as 40% of gasoline used by
automobiles is expended while drivers look for parking spaces in congested
urban areas, adding to already great urban energy demands. Transportationproblems are rampant in cities. Personal vehicles are a major source of
pollution and carbon emissions and contribute to growing congestion and
noise pollution. Public transport does not cover the entire city, remains
inconvenient, and does not address the first milelast mile problem of mass
transit. In Taiwan, for example, there are 5.7 million cars (averaging 4 people
per trip) and 13.6 million motorcycles and scooters (averaging 2 people per
trip and accounting for 11% of the air pollution generated).
Vehicle Sharing
Vehicle sharing of all types is becoming more commonplace but the concept
has not yet been fully embraced. In Paris, for example, 30,000 bicycles are
rented daily. As of 2008, an additional 80 cities worldwide now offer bicycle
sharing. The United States has plans for several cities to implement bicycle
sharing, but work on those projects remains ongoing. The models areenvironmentally friendly and offer schemes similar to those for car rentals: a
bicycle can be picked up from the closest rental rack and returned elsewhere.
The one-way rental scheme is convenient and flexible, and complements the
public transit model, while solving the first milelast mile problem. Two-
way rental schemes require the return of the vehicle to the pick-up origin
(this is useful for niche markets such as running errands); however, one-way
rental schemes can dramatically affect how cities operate on an urban scale.
Automobile sharing services are also becoming more convenient, with more
than 600 cities worldwide offering some sort of car-sharing service. Currently,
5,000 automobiles in the United States are used in car-sharing programs.
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Mobility-on-Demand
Mobility-on-Demand (MoD) Systems is the MIT Media Labs newest design
solution. It involves having a fleet of lightweight electric vehicles (scooters)
scattered throughout a city at charging stations, where users can easily pick
up a vehicle from one location and drop it off at another.
For this program to succeed, the vehicles require batteries that can be rapidly
charged at stations that have been integrated into a citys smart grid. Global
Positioning System (GPS) receivers will allow users to locate the vehicles
and navigate them to available charging stations. Battery management is
essential to accommodate large peak loads because electrical demands
may well overburden existing electric grids. A combination of rapid and slow
charging battery systems will be an essential part of such a program. The
core technology built for MITs three MoD vehicles involves in-wheel electric
motors (Figure 1).
Each wheel has an electric motor, integrated with suspension, steering, and
braking, all inside what is called the Robot Wheel, an integral, self-contained
module. Rather than placing the motor, suspension, steering, and braking
systems throughout the platform of the vehicle, as in current vehicle design,
these integral parts are contained within its four cornersthe wheels.
Figure 1. In-wheel electric motors are the core technology
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The Robot Wheel permits a variety of different vehicle configurations, as
it frees up the interior space of the vehicle. In essence, the wheel can be
likened to a USB stick, an essential commodity product, with the vehicle
taking the role of the finished element. By using the Robot Wheel, vehiclescan be designed so that each wheel acts independently, controlled off one
central processing unit.
CityCar
The CityCar is a two-passenger electric vehicle with in-wheel motors. One
unique feature of this vehicle is its ability to turn on its own axis. Each
wheel can turn approximately 50 degrees, thus enabling zero-radius turns.
The CityCar can collapse and fold to about 40% of its footprint (Figure 2).
When folded, three CityCars are able to fit into one traditional parking space.
Because the CityCar can fit within the width of a parking space, a citys
streetscape can be altered to accommodate significantly more vehicles,
making better use of the space.
Figure 2. The CityCar, fully expanded mode and collapsed.
The CityCar has been designed so that entry and exit is through the front of
the vehicle. Reconfiguring the design of the car and entry and exit allows
drivers to step out safely onto the street or sidewalk and increase pedestrian
and bicycle safety (as this design will eliminate having to open doors out onto
the street). Figure 2 also provides weight and size comparisons of the CityCar
versus traditional cars. The prototype CityCar will weigh approximately 1,000
pounds. By comparison, a conventional 4-door sedan can weigh 3,500
pounds or more.
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The CityCar is viable both for old-world cities (such as those in Europe that
must decrease the amount of pollution cars generate) and for cities where
car ownership is onerous (such as Hong Kong, where automobile costs are
roughly three times that of the United States).
In congested cities, pick-up and drop-off points can become social gathering
places, with the potential to increase business for shops in the immediate
vicinity. The MoD systems can function as networks, where the drop-off points
are hot spots for transportation activity and energizers for neighborhoods.
For example, a convenience store or coffee shop with a charging station out
front could see an increase in the flow of foot traffic.
CityCar networks can be developed relatively quickly, unlike traditional train
stations, which might require a decade or more to build. Figure 3 shows how
the concept would fit into a city such as Singapore, where public transit is
used by a majority of residents, but where first milelast mile remains a
challenge.
Figure 3. Artists rendering of how the CityCar concept can be integrated into
a cityscape.
The next phase of this project will be commercialization. MIT has partnered
with a Media Lab sponsor to make the CityCar commercially available within
3 years. The two groups will have a fully functional prototype by the summer
of 2011 and will immediately build an additional 20 units for demonstration
and testing.
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Nearly four folded CityCars can fit in one traditional parking space (Figure
4), changing the entire urban landscape, particularly for on-street parking. A
traditional parking lot typically accommodates 100 vehicles on the bottom
and 100 vehicles on the top. The CityCar can reduce that footprint by almostfour to one. If the vehicles become shared-use instead of single-owned and
single-used, an aisle will no longer be necessary. In a shared-use scenario,
the parking structure would function almost like a Pez dispenser. When a car
is required, the next car in the queue will be pulled into use. By re-thinking
the parking structure itself, developers can conserve space and save money.
Figure 4. Compared with traditional automobiles, the CityCar has a much
smaller parking footprint.
RoboScooter
MIT, Sanyang Motors (SYM), and Industrial Technology Research Institute of
Taiwan (ITRI) have collaborated in the design of a single-passenger vehicle
that uses a scaled-down version of in-wheel motors (Figure 5). This vehicle,
when folded, can fit into the closet of a small apartment. In some cities where
parking is challenging, further compacting an already small vehicle could
prove invaluable. The RoboScooter has a removable battery pack, which canbe recharged at a users home or swapped at battery vending machines.
The RoboScooter weighs approximately 45 kg but has about one-tenth the
number of parts of a traditional scooter.
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Figure 5. The fully expanded RoboScooter and a folded vehicle.
GreenWheel
GreenWheel, developed by the MIT Media Lab Smart Cities, is a modular,
in-wheel electric motor that transforms any pedal-powered bicycle into an
electrically assisted hybrid bicycle (otherwise known as the E-bike). A joint
workshop between the MIT Mobile Experience Lab and the Smart Cities
Group has encouraged further innovation. GreenWheels was combined with
mobile phone and sensors.1 The joint effort has encouraged exploration of
a variety of topics, including social navigation, distributed data sensing,
healthcare, optimization of bike-sharing racks, peer-to-peer freight, urban
races, and civic engagement.
The GreenWheel Smart Bicycle is an electric-assist bicycle: the motor and
battery are integrated inside the hub space of the wheel, enabling electric
power to be provided to the rear wheel whenever the rider desires. A pressure
sensor embedded in the pedals activates the rear motor. Thus, when the rider
exerts force during pedaling, the GreenWheel provides power to a level set
by the rider. In turn, the rider can climb hills more efficiently and travel longer
distances. Using a wireless throttle, the rider can release energy stored in the
generator while braking to support pedaling during more difficult stretches.
Creating bikes that can recycle their own energy and even make small
contributions to the grid provides numerous opportunities.
1 GreenWheel Scenarios, accessed March 12, 2011. http://mobile.mit/edu/greenwheel/scenarios
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The GreenWheel project is not limited to power microgeneration. Its
combination of software and electronics creates a new platform for
sustainable mobility, including having a battery that should extend for 30 km.
Figures 6 and 7 illustrate the details and specifications of the technology.
Figure 6. A cut-away detail of the GreenWheel technology used in the
GreenWheel Smart Bicycle.
Figure 7. Performance specifications for the GreenWheel.
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The GreenWheel uses a brushless DC motor; thus, only the outer casing
rotates. Because there is no large rotational mass, as users slow the bicycle
down, a reduced amount of energy is required compared with that required
of vehicles with large engines. When the engine is engaged, the rider cancontinue pedaling, helping the battery achieve its 30 km range/charge. The
motor and gearbox are configured to provide enough torque and power
to overcome a 15-degree incline. The battery has been designed to quick
charge as well (estimates predict 20 to 25 minutes to fully charge). The top
speed is 20 miles per hour (30 km/hr).
The MIT Mobile Experience Lab has also developed a mobile application
for the GreenWheel bicycle that calculates performance, rider energy
consumption, and environmental conditions while traveling. The application
is designed to be mounted on the bicycles handlebars and provides a
number of modes that aid the rider. It has been designed to minimize the
complexity of the information and decrease the risk of accident associated
with unnecessary distractions. The following issues have been addressed:
Performance
This mode allows the rider to compare the speed and effort being expended
with the power assist that is created. The rider also can monitor the length of
time for a trip and the distance traveled in real time.
Health Monitoring
This mode provides the total calories burned during the ride as well as
the current calories (kcal) per minute. To burn more calories, the rider can
optimize performance by adjusting the GreenWheels assist level.
GreenWheel Status
This mode shows the current status of the GreenWheel itself. In addition to
showing the distance traveled, it shows how much farther the rider can go
using the power assist.
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Environment
This mode shows riders how they are helping the environment and their
wallet by calculating what an equivalent trip would cost by car. The monetary
cost of fuel is shown as well as the environmental impact in grams of CO2.
The rider can set the characteristics of the vehicle in the preferences.2 When
the production of MoD systems is fully implemented, the cumulative battery
storage that can be provided from the 4,000 vehicles becomes part of an
operator network. In a city such as Boston (where approximately 300,000
private vehicles exist), the MoD vehicle fleet represents just over 1% of the
total.
These vehicles could be charged overnight, when electricity use is lower. In
the daytime, the MoD vehicles could absorb energy from solar, wind, or any
other kind of intermittent renewable power. Simultaneously, these vehicles
can return power back to the grid. Vehicle-to-grid power return is now in
experimental form in several locations. Questions being addressed include
how a large fleet of vehicles can act as additional energy storage for the
utility grid and whether the vehicle can be combined into a mobility deviceand an energy device to reduce the need for backup power plants (spinning
reserves) in cities. Challenges such as pricing structures, safety issues (such
as how to incorporate the use of baby seats), remain. MIT is in the early
stages of designing a four-passenger vehicle and is considering developing
a six-passenger minivan that would incorporate the concepts of MoD.
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2 GreenWheel Scenarios, accessed March 12, 2011. http://mobile.mit/edu/greenwheel
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Smart and Connected Communities
Notes based on the presentation made by Relina Bulchandani, Global Lead Connected Real
Estate, Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG)
Using advanced technology and design practices, the Mobile Experience
Lab is devising sustainable solutions for transportation and real estate
development. Through prototypes and proofs of concept, the Connected
Urban Development project can help mayors around the world promote
sustainable policies and practices as they move toward an integrated vision
of the city of the future. The Mobile Experience Lab and Cisco InternetBusiness Solutions Group (IBSG) envision four areas of opportunity: First,
people will be able to move around and interact with their city through
citizen engagement points, a seamless integration of physical and virtual
environments, through ad-hoc car and bike sharing. Second, the smart city
will embrace the energy contributions of its citizens by taking advantage of
opportunities for microgeneration, such as regenerative brakes on bicycles,
or the use of piezoelectric generators on dance floors. Third, existingbuildings will be retrofitted to be sustainable, configurable, and flexible to
allow the hyper-efficient use of energy and space. Finally, cities and citizens
will be able to collaborate on the efficient use of resources by using new
technologies such as open-source eco-maps that monitor land use and
environmental effects (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Smart+Connected Communities.
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Compared with agricultural regions, cities use significantly more energy.
According to an IBSG study, within 20 years, a city of 5 million people
networked with information and communications technologies can increase
city revenues by $15 billion, increase GDP growth by about 9.5%, createapproximately 375,000 new jobs, and become more energy efficient, while
consuming 30% less energy than a city without such a network (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Interconnecting information services and building services.
Intelligent Buildings
IBSG is devising intelligent buildings, where information technology and
building management can be merged by inputting data onto an IP network.
For example, floor monitors can automatically turn lights off if no people are
on a floor at a given time. IBSG implemented this concept in Bangalore, India,
at its globalization campus. The company took 9,000 points and converged
them over the IP network. By monitoring and managing their own energy
usage, people are becoming more conscientious about their energy choices.
The i-Waterfront
IBSG is now working on revitalizing the Toronto, Canada, waterfront. Currently
the largest urban renewal project in North America, the area encompasses
about 800 hectares of land.
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City planners are working with building developers to ensure that sustainability
features are incorporated into the vision. A key component for the Toronto
project is i-Waterfront Toronto, which combines a physical environment
that enables community members to congregate and develop their ownapplications over a base platform. The project, based on an operational
prototype in Vsters, Sweden, links the online world to the offline world.
Smart Work Centers
As part of the Clinton Global Initiative, IBSG and MIT collaborated on Smart
Work Centers. In Amsterdam, for example, the amount of time and energy
people used to commute to work was unacceptable. Smart Work Centers
reduce carbon footprints by reducing the amount of traffic and emissions
by allowing people to shorten their commutes. Workplace costs are also
decreased, and the concept facilitates an environment for communities,
employers, and employees. The traditional office has been disrupted with
this concept. Technology is, in essence, creating another subgroup of people
who tend to congregate at the same work centers, even if they are not co-
workers. In Korea, there are now 500 national smart work centers planned aspart of the current governments Green Growth Committee of the Presidential
House.
IBSG and MIT are further collaborating on an Urban EcoMap, where an
individual can determine transportation options, waste data, and energy
costs for those options, by zip code. The Urban EcoMap is an interactive
decision space that empowers individual citizens to make informeddecisions about their daily lives, along with how to participate in the vitality
of their communities. [The projects] aim to build awareness, foster a sense of
community, and provide actions for citizens to take to enable the reduction
of greenhouse gas emissions in cities. Although both Amsterdam and San
Francisco have approximately the same number of residents, Amsterdam
produces less than half the residential CO2 emissions per capita than San
Francisco does (Figure 3). In San Francisco, transportation is responsible
for 78.1% of residential CO2 emissions; however, in Amsterdam, energy
consumption is the culprit, accounting for 63.7% of emissions.
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ICT-Based Urban Planning Initiatives: Facilitators ofMovement, Communication, and Opportunity
Abby Spinak, MIT Mobile Experience Lab
Although information and communication technologies (ICT) might help build
a more sustainable world, social connectivity and environmental sustainability
must be a primary concern when implementing these technologies.
Discussions of future communities should emphasize residents continued
access to information and opportunities, greater civic engagement, and
more efficient coordination of local resources for all residents (Figure 1).Integrating ICT into the design of future communities can help achieve those
goals, as outlined below.
Figure 1. Information and communication technologies and socially
sustainable cities.
There are several key areas in which ICT should be used to design socially
sustainable cities, including improved public information and public
Internet access, dependable transportation, increased opportunities for
public engagement, flexible work and commuting options, and mixed-use
neighborhoods that encourage sustainability.
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Public Information and Internet Access
In urban areas, public services can be improved through widespread public
Internet access. For residents without access to smart phones or other
Internet-enabled mobile devices, publicly accessible Internet terminals
(woven into public transportation [similar to the IBSG/San Francisco
Connected Bus initiative] or into other public spaces such as libraries or
government buildings) can make a city more accessible for a wider variety of
residents. Where Internet connectivity is not possible or feasible, cities have
a responsibility to their residents to make services responsive to a variety
of communications technologies to improve accessibility and dependability.
Cities can, for example, take advantage of the widespread use of mobile
phones (non-smart phones) by setting up systems that use text messaging to
distribute information about public transit schedules or that allow residents
to report a problem with public amenities in real time.
Flexible, Affordable, and Dependable Transportation
A more accessible city is a more equitable, healthy, and vibrant city. Recent
demand-based multimodal transit models that rely on ICT promise to make
public transportation as convenient as, and more pleasant than, private
automobiles. These models enhance urban access by connecting poorly
served geographic areas of variable density into a metropolitan network and
by extending the functionalities of more personalized transit to residents
without their own transportation. Additionally, such transit models have been
shown to strengthen neighborhoods by increasing street traffic and local
business demand. This model of public transportation is exemplified by such
initiatives as:
1. Demand Responsive Transit (DRT) systemsA user-oriented form of
public transport characterized by flexible routing and scheduling of small
to medium vehicles operating in shared-ride mode between pick-up and
drop-off locations according to passengers needs3;
2. Employee shuttlesSimilar to DRT systems, these shuttle services offer
commuting options to employees in geographically spread-out communities.By including onboard Wi-Fi or other services, these shuttles make commuting
a productive and pleasant experience and help employees achieve a better
work/life balance. In addition to the more traditional single-company
3 European Commission, ManagEnergy, 2011, accessed March 13, 2011,
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shuttles, some shuttle services are starting to serve business districts, where
many companies have employees with similar residential distributions; and
3. Personal transit options, such as car-sharing or bike-sharing programs
These shared-use small vehicles reduce the need for private personal vehicles,
while providing the flexible capabilities of a personal vehicle accessible on an
as-needed basis.
Opportunities for Public Engagement
Public participation in community planning, city service provision, and local
cultural development can dramatically increase the effectiveness of public
programs and create more vibrant, inclusive communities. New technologicaltools that connect citizens and collect or disseminate information make
participation in local government or citizen group activities more convenient,
accessible, and easy to use. Such tools can facilitate civic participation.
Examples of recent ICT-enabled community participation initiatives include
mobilizing online communities to reward good business practices, creating
Web sites to keep track of public infrastructure problems, and using public
art projects that employ digital markers in real space to stimulate public
interest in places or events and to teach public history.
Flexible Work and Commuting Options
Non-productive commuting time negatively impacts many quality-of-
life indicators, from individual health to civic engagement. In addition to
increasing flexible work arrangements, ICT can connect those within a
community by providing them with personalized transportation options
to better integrate work and life demands. These commuting options canenhance both professional and personal productivity for riders.
Mixed-Use Neighborhoods
Mixed-use neighborhoods stereotypically score high on sustainability
measures and can become more than just a way of allocating space
for houses and work places. Sustainability initiatives that combine new
technologies with social ends make possible fluid lifestyles that contribute to
vibrant communities. Well-designed ICT applications blur spatial boundaries,
allowing people to work, play, participate, and organize from different
locations in ways that are accessible and meaningful for each individual.
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28
H2flOw Design for Increased Awareness of
Smart Water Use
Liselott Brunnberg, PhD, MIT Mobile Experience Lab
The term smart sustainability implies an already educated and socially
aware citizen. The H2flOw project aims to help communities develop
awareness and educate their youth population about sustainable water use
and, by extension, sustainable living.
Clean water is essential to sustain life on earth. This resource must be
protected and made accessible to all, but factors such as melting glaciers,
shifting rainfall patterns, pollution, and privatization contribute to fresh
water depletion and misuse of water resources. Coupled with a constant
population growth, providing sufficient, clean water is likely to remain one
of the greatest challenges of the 21st century4 . Modern lifestyles contribute
to polluted water resources, increased global warming, and large quantities
of water consumption. Consequently, an urgent need exists for communities
to address the issue and to make citizens aware of their daily use of water.
The H2flOw project has undertaken the challenge by engaging the attention
of teenagers between the ages of 13 and 15. H2flOw embraces an explorative
and place-based learning approach, meaning that the students discover
and explore the topic in their own local environments, such as their school,
neighborhood, community, and city. By establishing a connection between
sustainable issues and the immediate local context, the project will inspire
young people to reflect on their everyday choices about water consumption
and to foster community engagement. Through a combination of Web, mobile
applications, and constructible, tangible interfaces, the project envisions
a technological ecosystem as a resource for education and community
awareness and sharing.
H2flOw is a collaboration between the MIT Mobile Experience Lab and
FBK/Science Museum in Trento, Italy. Although the project is housed at the
Science Museum, it incorporates schools, home environments, and the city
of Trento. Two different designs are currently being developed as part of the
projects goals.
4 World Water Assessment Programme, 2009, 3rd UN World Water Development Report: Water in a Changing
World, accessed March 13, 2011,
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1. CUPa do-it-yourself probe to increase awareness of water consumption
in the home.
In this hands-on activity, participants engage in a do-it-yourself construction
session, where they will build their own probe to measure the quantity
of water consumed from faucets in their residences, e.g., at the bathtub,
shower, garden tap or kitchen sink (Figure 1). Participating teenagers will
then have the resources necessary to explore, investigate, or measure water
consumption. Awareness by the teenager will lead to awareness among
other household residents, who will become more conscious of their water
consumption, from brushing teeth to showering.
Figure 1. Designing a water flow meter.
Given the age of the participants, the probe is designed with inexpensive
materials and sensors, and is something that could easily be built by a
teenager. A paper cup and a cheap microprocessor, simple sensors, and LEDs
comprise the probe; a thermometer is used to indicate water temperature.
The probe must first be calibrated by holding it under the faucet until the
cup is filled to calculate water flow. A Piezo transducer microphone attached
to the probe will capture the sound of the water flow. The microphone will
then be attached to the water pipe. A microprocessor interprets the sound
and, using the already calculated water flow value, can assess the amount of
water consumption.
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Lights and ambient sounds function as feedback indicators, giving participants
a real-time awareness of consumed water to keep the teenager involved
and engaged in the process. The ambient sound alters with variations in
the temperature and amount of consumed water. The metaphor of a 10-literbucket is used so that project participants can visualize quantity. This bucket
simulates an environment without a water infrastructure and communicates
how often participants would have to visit a well to maintain their lifestyles. A
vertical row of 10 LEDs on the cup simulates the buckets rising water levels,
with one LED representing 1 liter of consumed water. Sound effects are used
to simulate the full bucket and when the participant must start over again.
The teenagers can use a mobile phone to record videos and report findings
on actual versus perceived water consumption in the home by using Locast
(Figure 2). Locast is a location-based platform developed in the MIT Mobile
Experience Lab that combines distributed Web and Mobile applications to
create hyper-local and highly connected experiences. Locast allows users
to share videos theyve recorded on mobile devices for immediate uploading
onto the Internet to engage the entire community. Data about consumed
water quantity can be transferred from the probe to the mobile phone throughsound communication (similar to a modem). Video reports and water quantity
data can also be uploaded to the Locast Web site to enable school classes to
discuss their findings and develop ideas for sustainable water use.
Figure 2. Using Locast on the mobile phone
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31global trends
2. Water Wisecreating documentaries to increase awareness of water
usage and consumption
The second design introduces the idea of a guided video production by
using mobile phones and the Locast platform. Mobile phones now provide
teenagers with a tool for explorative learning and civic media creation within
their own cities. Teenagers can take on the role of citizen journalists and
create short documentaries to raise the city of Trentos awareness about
sustainable water use.
The Trento region is surrounded by glaciers, and therefore, is rich in high-
quality water resources. Italy, however, consumes more bottled water than
any other European country, and ranks second in bottled water consumption
worldwide, after Mexico5. Bottled water in Trento is more expensive and of
inferior quality to the tap water in that area. Although the majority of Trentos
inhabitants consume bottled water (72.1%), consumption remains less than
the national average of Italy. (87%)6
Nonetheless, the enormous amount of plastic water bottles fabricated each
year creates an immense drain on resources and contributes to carbon
dioxide (CO2) emissions. Drayage (transportation of goods a short distance)
alone further drains fossil fuels, contributing to CO2 emissions as they burn.
The increase in global atmospheric CO2 concentrations is considered to be
the main cause of global warming and hence the increase in global average
temperatures.7
Glaciers are disappearing worldwide at an alarming rate as a result of the
earths increased temperatures. The glaciers in northern Italy have decreaseddramatically during the past 40 years, especially since 19808 and many
glaciers are now smaller than they have been for thousands of years.
5 International Bottled Water Association, Bottled Water Reporter, May/April 2010, accessed March 13, 2011,
6 Federconsumatori, 2008, Acqua in Bottiglia: LAffare dellAcqua, accessed March 13, 2011,
7 Solomon, S, Qin, D, Manning, M, Chen, Z, Marquis, M, Averyt, KB, Tignor, M, & H.L. Miller [eds.] 2007, IPCC, 2007:
Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to
the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cam-
bridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, accessed March 13, 2011, http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-
report/ar4/wg1/ar4-wg1-spm.pdf
8 United Nations Environment Programme. Global Glacier Changes: facts and figures, accessed March 13, 2011,
http://www.grid.unep.ch/glaciers/
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In the Trento region, glacier loss was about 39% from 1993 to 2003, and it is
predicted by the World Wildlife Federation that the European Alps will lose
major parts of their glacier coverage within the next few decades9. Melting
glaciers could trigger floods and landslides and result in a scarcity of water.
As part of H2flOw, teenagers can investigate and learn about water usage
by carrying out different missions, collecting data, and developing opinions
on the subject. Pre-recorded videos introduce each mission, complete with
background information and end goals. To complete a mission the students
will be required to record a video that illustrates the issues surrounding water
usage (Figure 3). For example, the teenagers can create a video survey byasking the general public about the types of water they generally consume,
investigating the types of bottles on grocery store shelves, interviewing
employees of the store, and reporting about calculated CO2 emission related
to the production and transportation of a product. The video clips created
during a mission can make up a scene in the documentary. The mobile
application will automatically stitch the video clips together into a narrative.
Figure 3. Teenagers using the H2flow application.
9 World Wildlife Federation, Going, Going, Gone! Climate Change and Global Glacier Decline, accessed March 13,
2011,
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33global trends
The videos themselves would be template-driven. Each video recording
template provides the user with a shot list, a list of the videos needed to
create the intended content. The shot list is sequentially presented on the
mobile screen, and each presented shot automatically stops recording after
a preset number of seconds (Figure 4). The shot list inspires users to work
with short video clips, different camera angles and types of video shots, e.g.,
long shots, close-ups, and panoramas. The application provides a set of
defined templates, including those needed for an interview, a report, a vox
populi (voice of the people), or a panel discussion.
Figure 4. Screenshot of video recording template.
Depending on the mission and how the participants choose to approach
it, different templates will work better than others; therefore, users shouldselect templates that best correspond to their concept of the mission.
Each mission results in geo-referenced video clips that are uploaded and
shared on the Locast Web site (Figure 5). These clips can later be viewed as
video reports on a map according to where they were shot or be combined
into a narrative and viewed as a documentary.
Through this exploration process, participants will better comprehend the
role of water and environmental issues concerning water in their community.Participants will learn about global issues related to sustainable water use,
such as the impact of bottled water consumption on the environment and the
future of water resources.
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But this project also will contribute to an increased awareness about local
matters, such as differences in citizens perception of water use and the
extent of bottled water consumption in a local community, and will provide
a perspective on the citys future and the existing water resources in theregion. This process will provide teenagers not only with a local but also with
a worldview on the topic of sustainable water use.
Figure 5. The Locast Web site.
Implementation of H2flOw is also scheduled for Sao Paulo, Brazil. In that
undertaking, more than 5,000 students will be involved in creating media
content about sustainability water issues related to their particular cities.
Sharing the created content on the Locast Web site will create awareness of
local issues on a global scale. Schools can then use this online resource to
teach about local and distant situations.
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2// The SustainableConnected Home
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Energy Mobility Network
Natalie Cheung, MIT Mobile Experience Lab
Within the Sustainable Connected Home Project is the Energy Mobility
Network, first created to provide more information to users about their
consumption of electricity. In todays society, it is common is to turn an
electronic device on and leave it running, with little to no thought about energy
consumption. The Energy Mobility Network project aims to raise awareness
about wasting energy. There are three main goals in this project:
First, alter peoples perception of their energy consumption by using just-in-
time feedback as a means to modify behavior. Just-in-time feedback allows
the user to see how much electricity is consumed in any given hour and the
difference in costs when the electricity is used at different hours of the day.
Second, move from a device-centric mode of thought to a human-centered
mode of control, where people, instead of devices, are the main components
of the interaction.
Third, change peoples perceptions about electricity. Electricity should be a
social responsibility instead of an individual responsibility. The overall system
design is illustrated in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Energy mobility network, system design.
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37sustainable connected home
As shown in Figure 1, the user communicates with the Energy Mobility
Network by using a device that has been dubbed the Energy ID. The Energy
ID helps turn devices on and off that the user wants to access. All of these
devices are plugged into outlets that are directly sourced to the electricalgrid. The Energy ID shows the energy consumption and costs of that energy
in real time (just-in-time feedback) and in an easy-to-understand manner. A
more tech-savvy user might have an Energy ID in the form of a mobile device
that displays energy costs in terms of kilowatts; whereas, a person who is
more interested in the amount of money spent might wish to see energy
usage in terms of the local currency. The Energy ID interface will allow users
to identify which devices are available, which networked friends are available,and which devices are in use. An example of what the interface may look like
is shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2. Energy ID interface.
The Energy ID can be embodied in different objects as preferred by the end-
user. A tech-savvy user might prefer using a mobile device to access Energy
ID information, whereas a family planner might prefer having it on a watch
and a teenager might prefer having it on a key fob. Information can be further
customized so that the family planner can access information on costs,
consumption, and usage, and the tech-savvy user can access information
on energy regulations or fluctuations in the consumption and cost of that
energy.
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A teenager might prefer having an Energy ID that is reflective of energy
consumption by a given social group rather than that of an individuals use.
The system will calculate cost based on several factors: the amount of time
used, the amount of electricity being consumed, and the users profile. EachEnergy ID user has a profile, which is also a fluid identity that changes based
on the context and the persons location. For instance, if the user is at school,
the system recognizes the user as a student. If the user is at a friends home,
the system recognizes the user as a guest. The Energy ID recognizes the
various profiles and charges the user accordingly. Energy costs and charges
depend upon the context in which someone uses a device. A student, for
example, might be charged only 50% of the energy cost and the schoolwould cover the other 50%. At home, however, a user would be assessed
100% of the energy costs.Based on the final system design, the MIT Mobile
Experience Lab has created a prototype that provides instantaneous
feedback to the user, allowing the user to turn devices on and off. The current
prototype uses a Zigbee device that allows remote wireless connections in
the system and among users and outlets. Zigbee is a small, low-power radio
system that will stream data about the user back and forth from the EnergyID, outlet, and the server. For instance, the user could get information from
his Zigbee about his current electricity consumption costs and could have
it displayed on his Energy ID. The system also integrates a Kent Display,
a cholesteric liquid crystal display, as the new screen. The Kent Display is
aesthetically similar to an LCD display, but it consumes minimal power. This
new technology is essential to energy efficiency because the screen stays on
even when there is no power to it. This allows for minimal power in the Energy
Mobility Network.
Passive and active users will require different Energy ID devices. For passive
users, ultraviolet (UV) technology will be integrated into the system. The
passive users would carry devices similar to those in the first row of Figure 3,
e.g., a key fob, bracelet, or card. When the user accesses the Energy Mobility
Network system, the Energy ID will appear similar to the devices shown in the
second row of Figure 3. The colors seen in the UV light signify the amount ofelectricity the user consumed and saved. The saturation of color will depend
on the specific amount of electricity consumed or produced. The color will
change based on information in the database to communicate information to
the end-user.
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39sustainable connected home
Figure 3. Examples of passive devices that use UV light.
For more tech-savvy users or more active users, the Energy ID can be
incorporated into a mobile device.
The Energy Mobility Network has an additional feature: The system can
be configured to calculate co-shared costs, such as when two people are
watching television together. The cost of using the television can be dividedby the number of people who are watching a program. Although this adds a
level of sophistication and complication to the system, it allows users to make
conscious decisions about energy usage. When two people watch television
together, one can offer to pay for the event, similar to social situations where
one person picks up the cost for the whole group (such as dinner, drinks,
or theater/movie tickets). Furthermore, with information logged into the
database over time, the system will also be able to identify patterns of energy
consumption to help users become more energy efficient. The system can
detect when certain devices are being used, such as when the user turns on
the television or which devices are used most frequently on specific days of
the week, or at what time of the day the user consumes the most electricity.
The system can then suggest ways to conserve electricity in the long run.
The Energy Mobility Network gives users an alternate view of electricity. By
making energy use a real-time measurable event, end-users can determine
when using the device in question is most cost-efficient. The network will
further accommodate the user by remotely turning devices on and off.
These additional features of the network can bring awareness of energy
consumption to new levels, creating a new social realm for the future.
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Lighting: How the Electrochromic Faade Influences theInternal Lighting of the Sustainable Connected Home
Guglielmo Carra, MIT Mobile Experience Lab
Several recent studies have shown that buildings account for 50% of the total
emissions of CO2
in the atmosphere. A primary factor affecting the rate is the
emissions created to make buildings visually and thermally comfortable. The
Mobile Experience Laboratory is developing a building that combines a strong
sensitivity to environmental issues by implementing cutting-edge materials
and construction techniques that emphasize sustainable living. This will beaccomplished through the use of information technologies that educate and
guide consumers toward the benefits of having an eco-friendly lifestyle.
The Sustainable Connected Home incorporates environmentally sound
materials and systems: wooden walls and ceilings, X-lam technology,
heavy insulation offering low thermal transmittance values (U), and rooftop
photovoltaic and solar thermal systems. Sensors installed throughout thehome will continuously monitor energy consumption, sending data to graphic
interfaces to inform the occupants of their energy consumption, thus raising
their awareness about energy choices.
The south glazed faade of the Sustainable Connected Home plays a
significant role in this process. This faade incorporates the green concepts
of a contemporary, dynamic, and transparent home. The sustainable
architecture is both environmentally and socially friendly and appealing.
The windows serve a dual purpose: a visual connection between people and
the outside environment, and a technical component that can increase the
efficiency of the buildings use of light and energy. Large glass faades are
often perceived as an element of discomfort owing to glare from the sun and
sky. They are also known to disperse heat necessary to keep buildings warm
in cold weather and cool in warm weather, and create condensation in humidclimates.
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Table 1. Values of reference for Italian residential buildings, European
technical standards adopted by Italian law.
The daylight simulation uses the two models provided by the CIE: Standard
Overcast Sky distribution (the sky is the only source of light radiation) and
Standard Clear Sky distribution (the sun is the only source of light radiation).
The system will exclude temporary phenomena with the help of a systemof sensors, still in development, that will simulate external conditions and
optimize data collection.
Figure 1. Typical distribution of illuminance inside the house in daylight
conditions.
The initial analysis began with conditions in which the faade was completely
transparent; all window modules were inactivated to permit the dataset
to analyze the faades behavior at this basic level. The next stage of the
analysis was to understand how activation of the electrochromic window,
or groups of windows, influenced the internal parameters of illumination.
Various geometric configurations were analyzed (primarily along horizontal
and vertical lines) to determine how they bind to the lighting inside the
prototype. We found that the position of the horizontal lines is important for
the internal verification and varying their on-off placement the results are
significantly different.
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43sustainable connected home
The placement of the windows plus the light filtered through the line of
windows influenced the ratio of direct to reflected light. During the simulation
of several vertical patterns, the number of active or inactive modulesthat
is, the electrochromic coverage ratio was expected to have different effectson the interior lighting.
Figure 2. Eight patterns of vertical electrochromic lines in the south faade.
Each pattern, however, resulted in similar lighting conditions, or equivalence
class, and each had a consistent value of interior lighting. It is possible then
to activate a particular number of windows in a preset geometric pattern
and yield the same value of interior lighting as you would achieve with a
completely different geometric configuration. This can be accomplished by
achieving the same electrochromic coverage ratio.
Thus, it is possible to change from one pattern to another, within the same
equivalence class, and consistently provide the optimal balance of energy
to meet the specific needs of the occupants. It has been demonstrated, by
comparing configurations at different periods of time, that it is possible to
generalize this principle for both CIE calculation models.
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Figure 3. Scheme used for the creation of mixed cases between the 1st and
8th cases, comparison between the internal lighting values for three mixed
patterns.
The main challenge was to determine the specific number of windows
that require activation at specific times of the year to create an internal
environment suitable for the occupants. It was important to determine how
many modules had to be activated and how many had to be inactivated. As
previously mentioned, all temporary environmental phenomena (such as the
passage of a cloud in the sky that obscured the sun) were excluded from this
process.
The sensor system installed in the prototype would reorganize the faade
and automatically set up the new number of windows to be activated to
correspond with each phenomenon. Figure 4 provides the relation between
the number of active windows and the value of the internal illuminance.
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Figure 5. The number of windows that must be active throughout the year at
1 PM for an Overcast Sky distribution and a Clear Sky distribution.
Additional research is required to develop a system of artificial lighting
that follows the same principle of the pixels adopted in the faade. If the
electrochromic pixels correspond to windows being on or off, the inner
pixels are defined by turning on spotlights grafted onto a rectangular grid
with square module. This grid can trace all possible paths within the building,
so that every place in the house can be illuminated as needed. The light will
follow the movement of the occupants and turn on and off accordingly. Thelights will also have the ability to vary the opening of the light cone and rotate
(with limited angles) around the installation axis.
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47sustainable connected home
Figure 6. Examples of activation of organic pixels for defined paths inside the
Sustainable Connected Home. The cyan picks resemble the highest values of
light from the presence of a spotlight.
Sensors are used to scan the probable path of the inhabitants. Lighting
energy consumption can be optimized because artificial light will be present
only where there is activity within the house. The automated features will
turn off artificial lighting when it is not in use. The artificial lighting system
also maintains the uniformity of lighting conditions throughout the house.
This overall process alerts occupants about their lighting consumption and
permits the system to correct less sustainable habits.
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48
Designing a Robust Energy Controller
Wesley Graybill, Masahiro Ono, Brian Williams,
MIT, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Numerous components of the home require energy or different resources to
operate. For example, the heating system, TV, microwave oven, lighting, and
other electronic devices require electricity, while the dishwasher, washing
machine, and air conditioning require water and electricity. Since resources
are limited or expensive, the goal of an energy controller should be to control
the components of the home and minimize the use of resources, while still
meeting the needs of the residents. The primary goal of a recent study is to
minimize the energy consumed by the heating ventilation and air-conditioning
(HVAC) system, while maintaining comfortable temperature levels for the
inhabitants.
Temperature Control Issues
The target variable that we wish to control is the internal temperature of the
home (Tin). The T
inis influenced by a combination of the outside temperature
via conduction through the walls, solar radiation through the windows, and
the HVAC system. Traditional homes typically use only the HVAC system
as a means of controlling the temperature. The prototype home will have
electrochromic windows, which allow the controller to dynamically change
the tinting on the windows. This effectively allows the system to control the
solar radiation entering the home. Ideally, the dynamic windows use solarenergy to heat the house in the winter, reducing use of the heating system,
if not eliminating it altogether. Conversely, in the summer, the windows can
be manipulated to block the suns rays so the air-conditioning system is not
required often, if at all. Inherent in this formulation is a level of uncertainty,
including solar heat input as well as outside temperatures. The controller
must manage the HVAC system and electrochromic windows so that the
indoor temperatures remain in the comfort range of the resident, even in theface of this uncertainty (Figure 1).
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49sustainable connected home
Figure 1. Problem formulation.
There are numerous advantages to the dynamic windows. The variable tinting
on the windows permits flexibility. When dynamic windows are in use, they
can block solar heat during hot summer days, thus reducing AC use. Theycan also capture solar heat during warm winter days, reducing heater use
during the night. In a simulation, it was determined that, when compared
with the worst-case, real-life scenario, there was a 26% energy savings in the
summer and a 16% energy savings in the winter when the windows are used.
Most home heating systems operate with reactive controllers; however,
current reactive controllers are not efficient. A temperature is set, and theheating or cooling system controls for one temperature. A model predictive
controller, however, takes the current state and plans over a certain time
frame (typically a day) what the settings of the HVAC and dynamic windows
should be, while maintaining the requirements for the resident. This approach
provides useful information to help the controller formulate an optimal plan.
Figure 2 shows the planning results of the model predictive controller on a
summer day. The red curves represent the comfortable temperature range
of the resident, while the blue curve illustrates the indoor temperature.
Compared with a simple reactive control, the model predictive controller
(MPC) provides a 10% savings over the course of a 2-day simulation.
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Figure 2. A reactive predictive controller vs. a model predictive controller.
10% energy savings over reactive PID control
The MPC will plan for optimum energy efficiency, assuming accurate
information about the system. Outstanding and unknown variables remain:
accurate weather forecasts and accurate information about the residentsschedule. If the actual weather deviates by a few degrees from the forecast,
or if a clear sky suddenly becomes cloudy (as with summer thunderstorms),
using a standard MPC may cause the temperature to fall outside of the
residents comfortable temperature range.
One design that overcomes that obstacle is a robust MPC that probabilistically
guarantees that the residents temperature constraints are satisfied. Toachieve this, a model of the uncertainty within the system is necessary.
Instead of assuming a definite forecast of the outdoor temperature, the
controller assumes a probability distribution over the possible outdoor
temperatures. Based on the uncertainty model, a safety margin can be
computed around the residents temperature constraints. The controller then
generates a control sequence for the HVAC and windows that stays within
the safety margin. Controlling within the safety margin guarantees that thetemperature of the home will only violate the residents constraints at most a
fixed percentage of the time.
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3// Buildingand Fabrication
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The Three Autonomous Architectures of the SustainableConnected Home
Sotirios D. Kotsopoulos, PhD, Carla Farina, PhD, MIT Mobile Experience Laboratory
The Sustainable Connected Home is presented in this section as the
interaction of three autonomous architectures: (1) the spatial arrangement
of the tectonic elements; (2) the assembly of sustainable materials; and (3)
the cognitive architecture of its active systems. The Sustainable Connected
Home, a prototype of which is moving into construction in Rovereto,
Italy, aims beyond the goals of conventional sustainable architecture. Anintelligent sensing and control system, embedded within the corporeal
architecture, allows for real-time monitoring and reconfiguring of the states
of architectural elements, which thus become responsive. This capacity
revolutionizes architecture, where normally tectonic elements are passive, or
require actuation by users. This presentation offers insight into the dynamic
relations among the corporeal elements of architecture and the incorporeal
attributes and events that are associated with them.
The Sustainable Connected Home incorporates a multidisciplinary approach,
involving specialists from different areas: architects, social planners, and
building technology and information-communication technology specialists.
The two main deliverables of the Sustainable Connected Home research are:
a material, corporeal architecture and a computing, incorporeal architecture.
The Sustainable Connected Home was envisioned as an evolving experiment
that supplies a fresh look on many parallel issues, such as social living,
environmental sustainability, connectivity, energy consumption, and energy
production. Within this general framework of objectives, the methodology
that we had adopted combines active and passive systems and attempts to
integrate a prototype residential unit within the context of a city or the natural
landscape in a way that permits maximum connectivity (Figure 1). The overall
framework of the smart city of the future is envisioned as a smart, energy
efficient grid, where the houses are the active nodes and the inhabitants are
the active participants of a community.
building and fabrication
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Figure 1. The residential units are envisioned to perform as active nodes in
a responsive grid, as the inhabitants are envisioned to be active participants
in a community.
Current research expands on four major areas:
1. Sustainable Architecturea specialized architecture that embraces
environmentally conscious principles
2. Smart Energy Systemssystems that use renewable energy sources (sun,
wind, biomass) to supply energy for residential units
3. Information & Communication Technologies (ICT)integration of
innovative information and communication technologies to create responsive
environments with renewable energy sources. (See Spinak presentation: ICT-
Based Urban Planning Initiatives: Facilitators of Movement, Communication,
and Opportunity)
4. Social Sustainabilityintegration of environmental, social, and economic
issues in existing urban communities
More specifically, the first prototype of the Sustainable Connected Home
integrates five unique systems: (1) a passive high thermal mass envelope; (2)
an active glass faade; (3) a high thermal mass base with heating and cooling
capability; (4) a renewable energy production system; and (5) a high-level
control system. The design of the home consists of an open plan space with
an electrochromic glass faade with southern exposure. The building exhibits
high thermal resistance and low conductivity to sustain thermal energy.
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55building and fabrication
The high thermal mass envelope is an assembly of wood (on the exterior),
wood-based insulation, and stone (on the interior), passively sustaining heat
during the winter and protecting against excessive heat during the summer.
The glass faade is a matrix of 5x20 digitally controlled windows functioningas an active filter between the exterior and interior.
Each windowpane is independently operable to permit adjustable airflow.
Each window glass has an overlay of two electronically switchable materials:
the first provides the desirable degree of visibility, securing privacy; the
second provides a desirable de gree of sunlight penetration, securing thermal
performance. The high thermal mass base accommodates an underfloor
heating/cooling system, and a solar cogeneration plant provides electricity,
hot/cold water, and air. An autonomous sensing and control system is
responsive to the weather conditions and the desires of the inhabitants, so
that the overall performance of the house remains constantly optimal. (For
specifics on the glass faade, see Carra presentation: Lighting: How the
Electrochromic Faade Influences the Internal Lighting of the Sustainable
Connected Home.) The relationship among the five systems of the
Sustainable Connected Home are orchestrated on three different levels, which
remain distinct in their logic of organization and their material constitution.
All of the systems operate as a unit to provide a responsive, energy-efficient
environment. The logic of organization of these systems can be thought of as
constituting three autonomous architectures: the spatial arrangement of the
tectonic elements, the assembly of sustainable materials, and the cognitive
architecture of the active systems.
Methodology
A typological study, mapping elementary building layouts and their capability
to accommodate various energy systems (e.g., wind turbines, solar panels)
was initiated. This mapping yielded the combination of typical building
geometries such as the oblong, donut, and cube, and how these
geometries affect the performance of energy systems such as, solar panels,
wind turbines, and active windows (Table 1).
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Table 1. Early typological study, mapping possible elementary building
layouts and their capability to accommodate alternative systems of energy
production.
The scheme of the Sustainable Connected Home was based on the oblong,
or the bar-house style (Figure 2). The early design schemes were conceived
on the assumption that solar panels, or alternatively wind turbines, would
be used for energy production purposes. Both solar- and wind-powered
schemes employed a system of dynamic switchable windows (Figures 3a
and 3b). Both design alternatives combined passive and active technologies
for insulating, heating, and cooling the house interior. More careful simulation
of the yearly weather conditions for specific sites in Zambana and Rovereto,Italy, indicated that harvesting the wind would not yield any satisfactory
results for the purpose of energy production. Accordingly, implementation of
the wind-powered design scheme was aborted.
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Figure 2a. Early conceptual sketch by William J Mithcell.
Figure 2b. Early conceptual rendering.
Figure 3a. Wind turbines were proposed as an efficient way to harvest the
wind energy. Passive thermal storage integrally combined means for passive
heating and coolong of the building.
Figure 3b. Solar panels provide seasonal energy, cooling for summer and
heating for winter. Dynamic windows modify thermal performance and
visibilty based on weather change and preference.
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The early design iterations were coupled with performance simulations. The
simulations confirmed the hypothesis that higher energy efficiency could be
achieved through integrating passive and active systems in a unique building
envelope. The consecutive design iterations integrated the experimentalfindings by addressing the combination of passive and active systems
more explicitly. The passive systems include a high thermal mass base and
building envelope with a northern orientation. The active systems include an
active electrochromic glass faade and the control system. The passive and
active systems become the driving components both from a technical and
from a design point of view. The combination of solar system and a micro
combined heat and power (CHP) technology generator comprise the mainenergy production system of the house (Figure 3c).
Figure 3c. Consecutive design iterations resulted to the integration of active
and passive components in a single building envelope.
Two sustainable principles underlie the logic of the house design. First,
the house secures optimum energy performance. Second, it is a tectonic
expression of customized sustainability. Optimum energy performance
is achieved through careful consideration of local natural and weather
conditions. To achieve this, certain variables must be identified and
compiled, including statistical weather data, and data produced via real-
time simulation. Customized sustainability requires consideration of local
parameters: cultural, social, and economic.
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59building and fabrication
For this purpose, the artificial technological and economic contexts and
conditions that exist in the area of Rovereto, Italy, were carefully analyzed.
Consecutive design iterations integrated the two sustainable principles
(noted above) into the final design of the house. For example, sun path datasimulation plus illumination and temperature simulation provided information
on the performance of the electrochromic faade during specific days in
the summer. The simulations provided quantitative information on how the
sunlight affects the interior illumination and temperature. This information
was compared with simulations that show how the faade performs during
winter. The arrangement of the glass faade was set to maximize the yearly
solar gain. Based on the yearly energy performance, the material constitutionand the thickness of the northern high thermal mass wall was developed to
insulate the house from the environment while preserving interior thermal
conditions for as long as possible (Figures 4a and 4b).
Figure 4a. After identifying the location, the sun path and weather data were
analyzed to maximize the yearly solar gains for the prototype.
Figure 4bi and 4bii. Interior lighting analysis through computer simulation, for
winter, December 21, and summer, June 21, at 1 p.m.
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Three Autonomous Architectures
Spatial Arrangement
The spatial arrangement of the house follows an open plan. The simplicityof the plan shortens the process of computer modeling and simulation. The
simplicity of the building envelope permits better control over the input and
output data on simulations of temperature, light, and airflow. On an entirely
different level, the arrangement of the interior space was left flexible to become
an open test bed for future inventions related to sustainable living. The house
interior can be subdivided in alternate ways, depending on desired future
utilities. At the primary stage, there is a provision for the basic house utilities:a sleeping area, a bathroom area, a living area, a dining area, and a kitchen
(Figure 5). These can be reorganized as desired. The initial arrangement also
includes a patio adjacent to the electrochromic southern faade.
Figure 5. The spatial arrangement of the prototype follows an open plan.
Figure 6. Alternative rendered views of preliminary interior arrangements.
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61building and fabrication
The house is organized into primary (I) and secondary (II) spatial modules,
following a sequence of I II I II - I (4.80 m 2.96 m 4.80 m 2.96 m
4.80 m, respectively) (Figure 7). The total length of the house is 66 6.5
(20.0 m), the width of each module is 25 5 (7.75 m). The primary modulesaccommodate sleeping, living, and cooking. Secondary modules correspond
to the eating and lavatory functions. The primary and secondary areas do not
correspond to distinct rooms, but to open functional areas.
Figure 7. Module (left), spatial relation (center) and spatial arrangement (right).
Sustainable Materials
The thermal performance of a house is greatly affected by its location
and orientation. Having a south-facing orientation maximizes a buildings
exposure to sunlight. The south-facing orientation plus illumination and
sun-path simulation provided the data necessary to identify the optimum
orientation and selection of building materials for the prototype. The
building envelope of the prototype exhibits high thermal resistance and low
conductivity to sustain thermal energy. On the south side, the electrochromic
faade regulates the sunlight penetration and the view.
On the north side, the house is protected from the natural elements (Figure 8)
by a high thermal mass envelope that isolates the interior from the exterior.
The high thermal mass envelope is an assembly of wood on the exterior and
wood-based insulation and stone on the interior that is passively designed to
sustain heat during the winter and prevent excessive heat during the summer
(Figure 9).
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Figure 8, 9. The overall performance of the house is based on the efficient
integration of two different technological solutions. The passive and active
components of the building envelope are oriented towards north and south,
respectively.
Local building materials were deliberately chosen for the projectwood,
concrete, and insulation forms with high thermal lagging capacity. Good
lagging is important to preserve heat during the winter and limit excessiveheat during the summer. The exterior wooden skin and the structural system
of the passive envelope were developed by the Trees and Timber Institute
(IVALSA) in Trento, Italy. The interior skin includes a high thermal mass stone
wall. A high thermal mass base, made of concrete and wood, accommodates
an underfloor heating/cooling system, while a solar cogeneration plant
provides electricity, hot/cold water, and air (Figure 10).
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63building and fabrication
Figure 10. High thermal mass passive system, based on wood, provides
excellent thermal performance and it is earthquake safe.
Active Systems
A fundamental design guideline was to integrate the passive thermal building
components with active components that can dynamically respond to the
changing weather conditions or adapt to the occupants demands. The main
active component of the envelope is the electrochromic glass faade that
covers the houses south elevation.
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This glass faade is a matrix of 5 x 20 digitally controlled windows functioning
as an active filter between exterior and interior, allowing controllable cross-
ventilation and penetration of sunlight. There are 100 operable windows
whose main characteristic is to regulate the air/light/heat flow into the house(Figures 11).
Figure 11. The dynamic facade is a reprogrammable active system that
supports environmentally and socially sustainable behaviours.
Table 2. Enumeration of possible actuation typologies for the windows of the
south facade.
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65building and fabrication
Table 3. Methodic exposition of the overall kinetic effect caused by different
actuation typologies.
This first prototype house integrates some extreme new concepts of
sustainability, back-to-back with other, more traditional ones. The purpose is
to determine the performance of the new systems and to see the problems
during real-life operation. Along these lines, the electrochromic southern
faade is an active element that will be tested next to the passive high thermal
mass envelope on the north. The southern glass faade was designed to
achieve three important objectives: (1) regulate airflow; (2) regulate the
percentage of sun and heat that penetrates the house; and (3) regulate
interior illumination.
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The first feature, air regulation, is straightforward. Each window is
independently operable, so that the permeability to airflow is adjustable.
Cross ventilation becomes possible when windows facing north and windows
facing south are open simultaneously. The windows of the dynamic curtainwall are activated by a system of electronic actuators. At the aesthetic level,
the house takes advantage of the strong kinetic effect created by the dynamic
repositioning of the windows to animate the south faade. Accordingly, several
different states of elevation can be achieved. The remaining two features of
the dynamic windows concern the regulation of light/heat penetration and
of visibility. Each window glass is an overlay of two electronically switchable
materials: the first (polymer-dispersed liquid crystals [PDLC]) provides thedesirable degree of visibility, securing privacy; the second (electrochromic)
provides the desirable degree of sunlight penetration, securing thermal
performance (Figure 12).